“All work to the pod can be done while we’re under power,” Graham nodded. “But to connect the interrupt network to the power junctions I’ll have to shut down part of the main bus in that area. The systems that will be affected are artificial gravity and aft-facing sensors.”

“How long will you need to shut that down?”

“The connections themselves will only take a few minutes, but call it an even hour by the time we safely secure and shutdown each system, do the work, and then bring everything back up in an orderly manner,” Graham said.

“Go ahead and begin the work up to the point you need to start shutting down systems,” Celesta said. “I’ll make the call on whether to proceed based on what’s happening at that moment.”

“Aye aye, ma’am.” Commander Graham was obviously quite pleased with the outcome of the conversation. “I’ll get my teams on it right away.”

“Very good, Commander,” Celesta nodded. “We’ll leave you to it then.”

“You’re considering reintegrating the RDS while we’re flying down the well towards a potential engagement?” Barrett asked once they were in the starboard main access tube and out of earshot of anyone in Engineering. His tone of voice clearly indicated he was surprised at her decision.

“I’m not inclined to do so at this time,” Celesta said. “But there won’t be any harm in allowing Commander Graham to complete all the preparatory work now and then do the final hookups later once we find out what we’re flying towards.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Barrett said. “If I may say so, I’m relieved.”

“Understandably so, Commander,” Celesta smiled. “Your distrust of the RDS has been well-stated.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Barrett looked away uncomfortably.

“You should be hoping that I allow Commander Graham to pursue this project,” Celesta said as they reached the first lifts that would take them to the upper decks of the main hull before having to take another lift into the superstructure.

“Why’s that, Captain?”

“Because that will mean we’ve investigated this strange beacon down near Xi’an and found that it was nothing to be alarmed about,” Celesta said.

“Very true,” Barrett nodded his agreement. “Allow me to withdraw my previous protests.”

“Consider them withdrawn, XO.”

Chapter 5

“We’re within visual range of the target now, Captain,” Ensign Accari reported as soon as Celesta stepped onto the bridge. “Data is being run through processing now to clean up and highlight the objective.”